Guardian
by Iskra revoir
Summary: One night, Clouds makes a promise to a very special little lady. Because all kinds of love are just that wonderful. Beware! Fluff alert! Do not enter if you don t like Warm And Fuzzy Feelings!


**Here it is! This is a project that had to wait a long time before I took the time to actually write it in Spanish (my first language) and English at the same time. I hope that you enjoy it and please, pretty pretty please, let a review so I can rest reassured that somebody actually read this!! nnU**

**Dedicated to my Beta, Horky (read her stories, they are amazing!) who can look for her kinda geological gift in my DA photo gallery (Iskra-recenzi) and to Marisa, a really nice and wonderful writer who said one time that she would like to read one of my stories in English. **

_**To that special hero that is always there to love me and protect me. And to the special hero of all of you.**_

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_**GUARDIAN**_

"_Life has no sense when the love is forget"_

**-Anonymous-**

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The city of Edge was enjoying a deep and calm night sleep after an exhausting day of struggle to rebuild something like a normal life in the post-meteor world. Everybody was happily huddled in their soft, warm beds, well into Morfeo´s lands, without any intention to cut short their visit, by any means.

But a little habitant of the city didn't seem to be enjoying her dreams. The troubled expression of her face and the uneasy movements of her tiny body betrayed her discomfort. Until suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she woke up, asking for help in the only way that she knew and that never failed to bring reinforcement.

And sure enough, shortly after a young man, still with a sleepy face and tired eyes was beside her, taking her in his arms. Just by looking at those blue eyes, so alike hers, she started to feel the bad dreams vanish into thin air, but there was still the aftermath of the terrible fear that had invaded her dreams, turning them into nightmares.

"What´s up, Naminé?" asked the man that held her in his arms. She only looked back at him with her scared and teary eyes. She was sure that he would understand. He always did.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Naminé's little eyes seemed to assent. The blond man smiled to her.

"Then I guess we will have to do something to get my baby to sleep calm, don't you think?" Cloud said softly before accommodating himself in the rocking chair with Naminé safely cuddled in his arms. He started to gently rock himself at the time that he started to softly sing a soothing melody to ease the fears and nightmares that haunted the mind of the baby shielding in his arms…

**Duérmete pronto mi amor**

**Que la noche ya llegó**

**Y cierra tus ojos que yo**

**De tus sueños cuidaré**

_Sleep soon my love_

_That the night is already here_

_And close your eyes that I_

_Will be taking care of your dreams_

That lullaby was one of the few memories that Cloud held of his father. Those moments in which he would drift to sleep next to his father´s voice had been some of the happiest times of his childhood and had stayed permanently engraved in his memory, even when the very face of his father had disappeared in the depths of his mind.

He lovingly watched Namine´s bright blue eyes before continuing with the lullaby, feeling each word in his very core.

**Siempre a tu lado estaré**

**Y tu guardián yo seré**

**Toda la vida**

_Always by your side I will be_

_And your guardian I will be_

_As long as you live_

Only a few words from a lullaby that nevertheless, portrayed perfectly that raw determination that comes to your life when you realize that you have something precious to protect. Somebody that you wouldn´t let suffer the tiniest damage until you give your dying breath, and beyond.

A feeling that utterly fills you and makes you feel a wave of warmth from inside, and goes on and on until it exceeds you and you can´t remember how the world was before this strange, till now know emotion came with full force to change your life.

**Si un día te sientes mal**

**Yo de bien te llenaré**

_If a day you´re feeling bad_

_I will fill you with goodness_

Of course, sometimes there could be something passing your guard and hurting your protected ones. Accident happen. People can go mad. The friends die. The nightmares hurt. Sometimes doing everything that you can is not enough. Those facts Cloud knew for sure. Unfortunately.

In spite of being still quite young, Cloud had already seen enough death and despair to wonder how the hell he had survived and accomplished a somehow normal sanity. He had survived countless near death experiences and had seen himself unable to prevent the destruction of many loved ones.

But the good side, and there is a good side if you know how to find it, of having dealt with so much death and despair and destruction, was that among all of this he had managed to find weird, wonderful people. People that had taught him by doing that sometimes, when the worst scenario comes true and something that you can´t prevent happens, the only thing you can do is be there, sharing your light with those who are trapped in the darkness. Stay to collect the pieces and get them whole and healed.

And sometimes, just sometimes, that´s all that they need.

**Y aunque muy lejos tú estés**

**Yo a tu sombra cuidaré**

_And even if you are faraway_

_At your shadow, I will be watching_

Most times, the dangers that haunt our loved ones are not madmen with oversized swords or really huge stones threatening to destroy the world. Sometimes Cloud thought that those were easier to deal with than his current challenge.

Fatherhood.

Because, lets face it, even Cloud _knew _that he had a record of not being in the place and moment that he was needed the most. Until now, sometimes he would still feel overwhelmed by the fear of being a second too late again. But at the same time, he was firmly decided to never be too late again.

**Siempre a tu lado estaré**

**Y tu guardián yo seré**

**Toda la vida**

_Always by your side I will be_

_And your guardian I will be_

_As long as you live_

He had been so nervous when he met her. Scratch that, scared out of his mind was a more accurate description. He had just stood there, without daring to approach the crib where his daughter was.

His daughter.

Even the word sounded alien to his mind. Apparently, nine months had not been enough to completely take in the idea, if his current bewildered state was any indicator. To open up his heart to a woman enough to make her his wife had been a gigantic step for him. But to take responsibility for another life, an innocent life that sooner or later would have to face the rigors of being alive, that was a completely different matter. How could he be a… a…

A father?

A _father_! For heavens sake! What was he thinking?

Just when he was about to freak out and run away, one of the elder nurses has come in, going to the crib, raising a tiny bundle of mattress and had deposited it softly in his arms before leaving the room. And he had been left standing there like an idiot, too shocked to move.

The tiny bundle had started moving gently in his arms, making him look downwards. And Cloud Strife, savior of the planet, defeater of Sephiroth and hero of the Meteor fall found himself lost without a chance.

Big bright blue eyes were curiously peering at him from a face identical to that of his beloved wife. But the fuzz of hair in the little head was as blond as his own, and the eyes were exactly like his. There was curiosity and innocence in those eyes and suddenly he found himself extending one of his shaking hands towards that little face, like somebody that tries to touch something to be sure that it´s real.

And when a tiny hand, complete to the most minimal detail reached to his middle finger and wrapped around it, Cloud knew that it was his heart that this little being was holding among her petite fingers and that as long as he lived, he would never be able to free himself from that grasp.

And he wouldn´t want it any other way.

**Esta noche te prometo que no vendrán**

**Ni dragones ni fantasmas a molestar**

_This night I promise you that there will no come_

_Either dragons or ghosts to disturb you_

Looking at the now calm and kind of sleepy face of his little one, Cloud felt a new wave of loving protectiveness spreading from the very depths of his soul, overthrowing him to focus on the precious weight that rested in his arms.

**Y en la puerta de tus sueños yo voy a estar**

**Hasta que tus ojos vuelvan a abrir**

_And in the gates of your dreams I'm going to be_

_Until you open your eyes again_

His only wish was that she could sense it, that she felt the security that his dad was beside her and that he would give away the very last drop of his blood without a moment hesitation just for her to be happy and safe, would it be from a nightmare, an evil corporation, or a crazy psychopath trying to destroy the world.

**Duérmete mi amor sueña con mi voz**

**Duérmete mi amor hasta que salga el sol**

**Duérmete mi amor sueña con mi voz**

**Duérmete mi amor que aquí estaré yo**

_Sleep now my love, dream with my voice_

_Sleep now my love, until the sun rises up_

_Sleep now my love, dream with my voice_

_Sleep now my love, that I will be here_

After gently intoning the last words of the song, Cloud held the sleeping frame of his daughter closer to his heart, unaware of the smiling face that watched him from the door. However, as he stood up from the rocking chair, he found himself face by face with the look of mischief and the ironic smile of his dear wife.

Now, even with the enormous love that he had for his daughter and the astronomic progress that he had made with the whole "how-to-express-your-feeling" business; Cloud was still a naturally reserved and somehow shy man. And in his book, being caught singing a lullaby and in a emotional moment was definitely _not_ the most manly thing that the woman that until this moment he still felt the imperious necessity to try and impress could catch him doing.

Oh, dear! Why should it matter, anyway? Everybody knows that little girls held an innate spell over their poor, defenseless fathers. You just had to see Barret transforming from a big grizzly to a Teddy bear the second that Marlene was around. Of course, this would not stop his wife to tease him a little bit.

"Well, I have to say that if I had know before that we had such a great singer in home, I would have asked him to stay to sing in the bar at night. That would give me the chance to check him out all I want, Don´t you think so?"

Didn´t I tell you, guys?

True to his nature, Cloud blushed a very interesting shade of red, and he even managed to hold the sleeping Naminé with one hand and scratch the back of his head with the other, unable to think of a proper comeback .

"Tifa…" was all that he could come out with, puppy eyes and whining voice to accompany.

A soft laugh was his whole answer, which of course, did nothing to ease his blush.

"Don´t worry, Cloud. I really did like your song." She got closer to him and her whole face lighted up with that warm smile that never failed to make him feel like a love struck fool all over again. "And Naminé liked it too. Just look how peacefully she sleeps. She knows that she have the best dad in the whole word."

He just looked down in embarrassment, once again without a clue of what to say, though for a completely different reason this time. He feels lighter now, but the weight of his past sins is still a heavy burden. Even now, he is sometimes scared to touch his child. He feels unfit to touch her, as if his mere touch could taint this pure, innocent angel.

And once again, as always seems to happen to him when he is around these two women, he found himself stuttering, unsure of how to express the torrent of thoughts and emotions flowing in his soul.

"I… don´t… I mean… I don´t think… I…" He gulped and tried to accommodate his thoughts in a passable coherent sentence. "Naminé is wonderful Tifa, just like you are. So much that I… I feel like I don´t deserve you, both of you. I have committed so many sins, so many lives that I… I´m sure that I´m not the most… suitable person to be with you and Naminé, but still… as long as you accept me… I want to be with both of you."

Ashamed, he looked down again so he wouldn´t have to face the seriousness in her look, afraid as a child of a lecture.

"And what about me?"

Surprised, he raised his head and looked at her with confusion. "eh?"

She smiled again, but no with her lovely usual smile, so full of light and love but with a sad, almost apologetic sort of smile.

"What about me?" she repeated without breaking eye contact once. "How many lives were lost at AVALANCHE´s fault? How many people was I unable to save in Nibelheim? Have you never realized how many sins I have to atone too? But I´m not gonna dwell on that because, you know what?"

Her expression softened and she looked at him with so much love that it made Cloud wonder what have he done to be deserving of the love of this angel.

"Every time that I look at Naminé, Marlene and Denzel growing up happily because I´m taking care of them, I know that all those lives will not be in vain, because they and their friends will get the chance to grow up in a better world that we did. And every time…" and this time, she gently cupped his cheek in her hand, so he wouldn´t look down and miss the sincerity that was clear in her eyes. "Every time that I see even the ghost of a smile in your face, every time I see how much peace and hope you have now, I wonder how much forgiveness I have earned for having at least a little part in putting that light in your eyes. That you are the man that you are after all you have been put trough is a miracle, and you are _my _miracle. Maybe… maybe I want to believe that love is the base of forgiveness, don't you think so?"

For a moment, they just looked at each other in silence. Then a smile began to slowly grown in Cloud´s face.

"You have done so much more of what you think to make me happy, Tifa" and he directed his smile to the baby cradled in his arms. "And you have given me the biggest miracle that I could imagine."

That being said, he took Naminé to her crib and gently deposited her on the mattress, covering her with the quilt and bending over to kiss her forehead and bid her good night, quietly reaffirming the promise that he had made tonight.

His wife was waiting for him at the door, tenderly looking at them. When he reached her, she put her head on his shoulder as they admired together they little miracle.

"Cloud?"

"Uh?"

"I know that you still worry if you will be able to protect Naminé. Something terrible can happen and it worries you not being able to prevent it. But a long time ago, there was another little girl whom you promised to guard and, you know? Until now…"

She turned around until they were face to face and, throwing her arms around his neck, she kissed him. It was a sweet and brief kiss, full of tenderness and admiration for the man that, for the two women in the room, was the greatest hero of all.

"You have done well"

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So, did you like it? If you did, there´s a cute little button down here that is waiting for you to take a sec and push it, right now!

**PS. If you don´t remember who is Naminé or you just wanna see a picture of her, go to my homepage! There´s a little pic of her. Thank you and have a nice day! **

**Here´s the link: http://iskra-revoir(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Namine-surronded-by-stars-106102215**


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